It’s Election Day, and Republicans are optimistic – with good reason. Time will tell, of course, but things are looking up for the GOP’s prospects of taking the U.S. Senate. Republicans need six seats to take a 51-seat majority in the chamber, and nine are within reach. Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia are likely GOP pickups, while Alaska and Iowa look very possible. North Carolina is less likely, though Democrat Sen. Kay Hagin should by all rights be sent packing. Kansas, Kentucky and Georgia are currently Republican-held seats that are tighter races than they should be, but we expect the GOP to hold at least two out of those three. Republicans could also gain seats in the House. Meanwhile, three governors’ races bear close watching – Kansas, where Sam Brownback’s fiscal conservatism has angered the GOP’s establishment, leaving him vulnerable; Florida, where Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist is trying to regain his old post against Rick Scott; and Wisconsin, where Scott Walker is running for the third time in four years, thanks to a recall in 2012. No matter where you are, remember the words of Samuel Adams: “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is … executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”